Images and stories of nature, science and conservation.

Tag Archives: Candid

This isn’t my usual type of post considering the title of this blog however keeping in with my resolution to write more and show more images I thought I’d share some. I really enjoyed having a go at a different style of photography which took me a little out of my comfort zone and I’m quite pleased with the results. More images than I’d usually post but hopefully they’re varied enough to keep you all entertained.

Morocco is a fun place and we had a great holiday. Rachael and I spent a few days at the coast so I could get some surfing in and then a couple of days in Marrakech exploring the souks and visiting some of the landmarks of the city.

The coast

We stayed in a small village called Taghazout which was really relaxed and had a very surfy vibe with lots of European surfers all wanting some of the long waves on offer at the rocky pointbreaks that Morocco is famous for. I was pretty rusty and unfit considering I hadn’t surfed for several months however I got a few nice waves and by the end of the time I was a bit more confident in the water again. It was nice to relax on the balcony and watch the sunsets or wander the streets taking pictures and have coffee or mint tea at our favorite cafes.

Balcony with a sea view!

Fishing boats at sunset.

Incoming swell lines.

The dog that followed us all day playing on the beach.

Taghazout Fish Market!

Watching the tide roll in.

Fishermen having a natter.

Surfer at sunset with Anchor point in the distance.

Marrakech

Marrakech was almost the complete opposite to Taghazout, we left the relative tranquility of a beach town for the most hectic, smelly but exciting city I think I’ve ever been to. In the Medina (the old city) the motorbikes are constantly weaving in and out of people and cars down the narrowest of streets.

Trying to capture exactly how busy it is was a real challenge as there is absolutely no time to stop and properly frame a shot. The action is frantic and either you’ve missed the “decisive moment” by raising the camera to your eye or the person has spotted you and turned away and you have caused a minor traffic jam in the process! As a result I was mostly “shooting from the hip” i.e. holding the camera low and randomly firing off shots. Obviously this reduces the hit rate of keeper images but with some practice it doesn’t take long to improve.

I managed to get a copy of canon’s ancient (by modern lens standards) 35mm f/2 for ridiculously cheap on a certain well known auction site and this wide angle when combined with the 5d mkIII proved to be an awesome street photography combo. I love the quality of the images it produces and the wider angle aided me in shooting from the hip. Although a wider angle means that you have to get close, in Marrakech getting close isn’t really an issue!

Another great challenge of photography in the souks is the huge contrast in light levels between sunlight and the shadows. I was constantly having to change between ISO 1600 and 100 and back again withing several seconds. Glad I was shooting digital!